One of these things is not like the others...

...one of these things just doesn't belong, can you tell which thing is not like the others by the time I finish my song? Just a little Sesame Street fun for you this morning along with two baby cards that while very similar, are a bit different. The reason they are a bit different is that this set is going to friends who have adorable twin boys, so I wanted to make a card for each; similar but individual all the same--just like their babes!

Nursery Necessities is probably my most favorite set to use for baby cards, the sailboat stamp in particular. I love paper piecing it, and the actual boat piece is so easy to do when you use your 1 1/4" circle stamp to cut out the boat portion...follow? If you're like me, you sometimes need more 'splainin: stamp boat image on back of desired patterned paper; line up circle punch with stamped boat; trim flat/top of boat with scissors.

You might notice a familiarity with this sketch and that's because it's last Saturday's SFYTT designed by Jen de Muro--love it! I extended the horizontal layer to the edge of the card base, just because it felt right. The patterned paper is from a fun paper/embellishment pack from Target and I just love it! SU! papers in Soft Sky, Old Olive, So Saffron and Kiwi Kiss matched the patterned paper just perfectly making me a happy girl!

Ok, so back to the Sesame Street song...there are technically 4 differences between the two, so let's have fun and say that I'll send you a little sumpin' if you leave a comment and can identify all 4 differences. Here are closeup shots of each:

Have fun and thanks for playing along...

Heartfelt Thanks

I'm going to make this a quick post because I'm feeling late to the SFYTT party this morning!

I have been wanting to make one of these accordian flowers that my friend, Kelly Lunceford has perfected, and since she graciously shared a tutorial for them on her blog yesterday, I just had to give it a whirl this morning (yes, you read that right--I just finished making my SFYTT card this morning!). To view Kelly's wonderful tutorial as well as her beautiful creations, click right here!

The papers are from Scenic Route paired with So Saffron, Riding Hood Red and textured Kiwi Kiss cardstock, layered on Very Vanilla. I ran the So Saffron layer through my Big Shot and the swiss dots texturz plate for even more texture, and to top off the texture theme, I embellished the sentiment layer with a corduroy button. The sentiment is from a PTI set I've had for quite some time, Butterfly Kisses.

Be sure to check out the SFYTT ladies and especially our fearless leader, Jen and her March guest designer!

Jen
Carole
Susan
Kelly
Amy

Have a great weekend everyone!

PMS tonight!

Yesterday's post featured a card for my stamp club tonight (affectionately named PMS which stands for Purchase More Stamps, he he!) and today's post features the two other projects along with the birdie card (from yesterday's post) which I tweaked a bit. The tweaking came about because I just wasn't happy with the balance of the first version and thought I had too many patterned papers going on all at once. I like my simplified version much better!

I guess you could say I'm also featuring my Big Shot tonight, using it with texturz plates (Backgrounds #1) and the Top Note Bigz die. The Trendy Trees card uses the larger embossed dots plate, and the birdie card uses the swirls plate that coordinates with Baroque Motifs. I took the advice (that I read somewhere) to dampen the cardstock before embossing it and boy did it work! I couldn't find a spray bottle to dampen the cardstock, so I used a dampened paper towel, and that worked just as well.

My favorite of the group is the Top Note bag/purse because it's simply WOW! So easy, so cute. Here is a link to the originator/akjuda on SCS. Thanks for the great idea, Angie! I can't wait to make a few of these as Easter baskets...

It's hard to see, but I stamped the one of the sentiments from Trendy Trees in craft white ink but it's not showing up so well in the photo. I really wanted to incorporate the Urban Oasis DSP, but it just seemed to overpower the stamped trees, so I opted for the subtle embossed dots background instead. I did take my color palette from the DSP though: Kiwi Kiss, Basic Gray, Basic Black & Baja Breeze.

Finally, my tweaked birdie card. No more fighting between patterned papers for all the attention; it all goes to the chipboard covered bird! The swirls in the embossed background make me think of a bird's song, swirling around the air!

Thanks for sticking with me through all the chatter this morning. Have a great day and be sure to check back tomorrow for another SFYTT!

Good Morning, Sunshine!

I'm thinking I may have gone a bit overboard mixing and matching papers from the new SU! DSP, Good Morning Sunshine for my usual "less is more" style, but then again I like the fun retro look of it. What do you think?

I'm hosting PMS (Purchase More Stamps)/stamp club tomorrow night and this is one of the cards we'll be making. I thought using rub-ons from SU!'s Chit Chat collection would be a great idea so that each of us can personalize the card as needed. I'm also thinking I'll let the girls decide which papers they want for the birdie as well as the spiral punched layer. For some, choices are great; for others, it's better to make the decisions for them. In the end, it's always fun to see what each of the girls comes up with.

I'll be back tomorrow (hopefully) with the rest of the projects...nothing too complicated because we are a pretty close-knit group (5 of us including me) who needs plenty of "talk time" as well as stamping!

Card ingredients:
Stamps--none!
Paper--Good Morning Sunshine DSP; Pacific Point; textured Kiwi Kiss
Accessories--Chit Chat rub-ons; On Board So Tweet chipboard; spiral punch; linen thread; mini library clips

It's all about The Cat's Pajamas!

I'm over-the-moon excited to share something with you today: I'm March guest designer for The Cat's Pajamas--whoo hoo!! Each Wednesday you'll be able to see something I've created using TCP stamps along with a little chatter about me over at Alma's blog--Dancing in Pajamas, so go and check me out! (Boy did that sound full of myself, or what?!) Thanks so much for this FUN opportunity, Alma!

In honor of my first Wednesday as TCP guest designer, I have a TCPTuesday Challenge card for you today as well. This week was an inspiration challenge and HERE are all the deets. I chose vertical strips of designer papers that reminded me of the bedding and then added this adorable image from one of the new Clearly Swanky Sets, Hearts and Flowers. The sentiment is from the same set and so appropriate because you just KNOW they are each other's {honey}!

Thanks for stopping by today and sharing in all my {TCP} goodness!

So many babies!

Between friends and neighbors, we've had lots of new babies to shower with gifts and of course, baby cards! Here are examples of "boy" and "girl" cards I worked on last night. I decided to use the retired SAB set, So Many Scallops, because I'd loaned out Nursery Necessities and I was determined to make baby cards last night with or without NN! Have you ever been in one of those moods where come hell or high water, you're making what's on your mind?! That was me!

I decided to use some textured cardstock I'd been hoarding and I just love the extra-extra that it gives to a card. The patterned paper is from my much-loved and dwindling supply of retired Au Chocolat DSP from SU! as well. I think the rest of the stamping is pretty straight-forward, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask away in the comment section. Here are single shots of each card...

Thanks for stopping by today!

So thankful...

Soft, subtle and simple...that's just the way I like it, most of the time. This is my first time participating in Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge, WSC70 to be specific, and this weekend's sketch was created by Lori Craig, a member of Beate's sketch team. Isn't it a great sketch?

This card is going out to a young couple from our church who lost their 27 week old baby girl, Jordyn, to a premature birth on top of other pregnancy complications. Such a bittersweet story and hard to imagine for me, the mother of three beautiful, healthy and (most of the time) happy kids. Whenever I think of Mark and Crystal missing their baby Jordyn, I remind myself of how absolutely lucky I am.

Think happy thoughts and remind yourself of something that you are thankful for today.

Card recipe
Stamps: SU! Thoughts and Prayers
Paper: Naturals Ivory, Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette
Ink: Ranger Distress Walnut
Accessories: SU! Scallop Edge Punch, SU! buttons, Linen Thread, Polka Dot ribbon from TayloredExpressions.com